Iain Valentine, director of giant pandas for the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland, said: “Scientific data does suggest Tian Tian has conceived, however this is not pregnancy.

“Giant panda pregnancies are extremely complex.

“Pregnancy begins when implantation takes place and this has not yet occurred.

“There are many hurdles to get through yet, so we would request that people do not get too excited at this very early stage.”

A fertilised giant panda egg will not immediately implant on the mother’s uterine wall but instead is said to “float” around in her reproductive tract for varying lengths of time. The panda was artificially inseminated for the third time in March.

Semen from Edinburgh’s other panda, Yang Guang, was used in the procedure carried out by a team of three vets at the zoo, alongside a panda expert from China.